In his first speech to Italy’s Senate, new Prime Minister Romano Prodi called the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq a “grave error” and vowed to withdraw Italian forces from the war-torn country, BBC reported.
"We consider the war in Iraq and the occupation of the country a grave error," Prodi told the upper house of parliament on Thursday as he outlined the program of his new cabinet which was sworn in the day before.
"It (Iraq War) has not resolved, but complicated the situation of security,” Prodi said.
"It is the intention of this government to propose to parliament the return of our troops from Iraq," said the center-left politician who beat centre-right premier Silvio Berlusconi in April’s elections.
Italy's center-left parties opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, but Berlusconi’s government supported the war and sent Italian soldiers to Iraq.
In response to waning public support for the war, the previous center-right government decided to pull out Italy's 2,600 soldiers from Iraq by the end of 2006.
But Prodi did not confirm that deadline, saying a "technical timeframe" would have to be agreed with the Iraqi government, and with the UK and the United States.
Communist Refoundation, one of the parties in Prodi's center-left coalition, calls for an immediate withdrawal.
Correspondents say Prodi's remarks on the Iraq War sparked debate among opposition politicians in the upper house.
In his speech, Prodi also said that his government strongly denounced international terrorism, but warned against "fundamentalism" in Western reactions.
He said that the new government was convinced that "the fight against terrorism must be conducted with political and intelligence tools and opposition to terrorist organizations - without ever restricting either our freedoms or our rights".
Most importantly, he said, the international community should not be "indulgent to suggestions of fundamentalism of the opposing strain, which preach crusades and indiscriminately advocate clashes of civilizations."
The Senate will hold a vote of confidence in Prodi and his cabinet on Friday.
* Fresh attacks hit Baghdad
Prodi’s speech came on another deadly day in Iraq that claimed the lives of more than 19 people, including four U.S. soldiers.
More than six Iraqi workers and their driver were shot dead by unidentified gunmen who stopped a minibus in western Baghdad. Seven others were killed in a bomb attack near a police patrol.
In northern Baghdad, a roadside bombing killed more than three policemen and four bystanders in the Waziriya neighbourhood.
Reports say the four U.S. troops died in a roadside bombing in north-western Baghdad. An Iraqi interpreter was also killed in the same attack.
The U.S. army said earlier that a U.S. sailor died on Wednesday in western Iraq.
There are also reports that a Sunni shrine near Baquba has been attacked, days after six Shia shrines were destroyed in the area.
Police officials said bombs went off inside the small Sharhabil bin Hassan shrine in Kanan, north-east of Baquba.
Sectarian violence surged in Iraq after a Feb. 22 bombing of a major Shia shrine in the holy city of Samarra.
The latest wave of violence came as Prime Minister-designate Nouri Maliki prepared to form a national unity government, which many analysts hope can curb sectarian violence in Iraq.
"We consider the war in Iraq and the occupation of the country a grave error," Prodi told the upper house of parliament on Thursday as he outlined the program of his new cabinet which was sworn in the day before.
"It (Iraq War) has not resolved, but complicated the situation of security,” Prodi said.
"It is the intention of this government to propose to parliament the return of our troops from Iraq," said the center-left politician who beat centre-right premier Silvio Berlusconi in April’s elections.
Italy's center-left parties opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, but Berlusconi’s government supported the war and sent Italian soldiers to Iraq.
In response to waning public support for the war, the previous center-right government decided to pull out Italy's 2,600 soldiers from Iraq by the end of 2006.
But Prodi did not confirm that deadline, saying a "technical timeframe" would have to be agreed with the Iraqi government, and with the UK and the United States.
Communist Refoundation, one of the parties in Prodi's center-left coalition, calls for an immediate withdrawal.
Correspondents say Prodi's remarks on the Iraq War sparked debate among opposition politicians in the upper house.
In his speech, Prodi also said that his government strongly denounced international terrorism, but warned against "fundamentalism" in Western reactions.
He said that the new government was convinced that "the fight against terrorism must be conducted with political and intelligence tools and opposition to terrorist organizations - without ever restricting either our freedoms or our rights".
Most importantly, he said, the international community should not be "indulgent to suggestions of fundamentalism of the opposing strain, which preach crusades and indiscriminately advocate clashes of civilizations."
The Senate will hold a vote of confidence in Prodi and his cabinet on Friday.
* Fresh attacks hit Baghdad
Prodi’s speech came on another deadly day in Iraq that claimed the lives of more than 19 people, including four U.S. soldiers.
More than six Iraqi workers and their driver were shot dead by unidentified gunmen who stopped a minibus in western Baghdad. Seven others were killed in a bomb attack near a police patrol.
In northern Baghdad, a roadside bombing killed more than three policemen and four bystanders in the Waziriya neighbourhood.
Reports say the four U.S. troops died in a roadside bombing in north-western Baghdad. An Iraqi interpreter was also killed in the same attack.
The U.S. army said earlier that a U.S. sailor died on Wednesday in western Iraq.
There are also reports that a Sunni shrine near Baquba has been attacked, days after six Shia shrines were destroyed in the area.
Police officials said bombs went off inside the small Sharhabil bin Hassan shrine in Kanan, north-east of Baquba.
Sectarian violence surged in Iraq after a Feb. 22 bombing of a major Shia shrine in the holy city of Samarra.
The latest wave of violence came as Prime Minister-designate Nouri Maliki prepared to form a national unity government, which many analysts hope can curb sectarian violence in Iraq.